A shocking report has revealed that the number of children being prescribed the slimming pills Reductil and Xenical has dramatically risen over the past ten years. Though the drugs are only meant to be prescribed to adults, since 1999 the number of prescriptions being written for under-18s has climbed 15-fold.
The study has been published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and examined the use of orlistat – the medical name for Xenical and sibutramine,the generic name for Reductil. It showed that many doctors despite being advised to only offer the medications to adults are prescribing off-license.
During the period studied, 452 under-18s were given 1,334, prescriptions. Most were for 14-year-olds, though 25 of the prescriptions were written for children under 12.
The researchers also discovered that most of the patients stopped taking the medications before they had time to have any impact on their excess weight. 45% of the youngsters stopped taking Xenical after only one month, while 25% of those prescribed Reductil also stopped using it after the same time.
It was not clear whether this was due to adverse side-effects or for other reasons. One of the lead researchers, Russell Viner, said they it was possible the diet pills had been given inappropriately. He also suggested that the children had expected them to deliver a “miracle quick fix’” and then when rapid weight loss did not happen, they grew disheartened and stopped taking them.